White Ghost lay back on his beach chair, staring at the empty horizon with the dead-eyed expression of a man suffering from a severe lack of stimulation.
"I keep seeing pirates screaming about 'setting out to sea'…" he muttered. "How do they survive the boredom of sailing?"
Ain stood nearby and rolled her eyes.
"You're just too bored."
White Ghost nodded without shame.
"Yeah. I'm bored."
Ever since they entered the Calm Belt, it was like time had slowed down.
White Ghost had originally planned to just fly them out like last time.
But Kuro suggested something else:
"Let them fight Sea Kings for training."
So White Ghost agreed—and became a beach-chair statue.
Ain fed him a grape.
"By the way, where are Styla and Elena? Haven't seen them."
"They're in the garden," Ain said. "They said they'd die of boredom otherwise."
White Ghost groaned.
"I should've never listened to Kuro."
He looked toward the sea where Enel and the others were fighting Sea Kings like lunatics.
Then—
"White-bro!"
Uta ran over.
White Ghost cracked one eye open—
and instantly shut both.
Because Uta was wearing a ridiculously short skirt—the kind that was basically a threat to male sanity.
White Ghost silently began chanting in his head.
Peace. Purity. Prayer. Amitābha. Amitābha…
Ain smirked and pinched him.
At first, White Ghost didn't care.
He was a steel balloon. What could her fingers do?
Then pain flashed.
White Ghost snapped his eyes open and looked down.
Ain was using Ryuo.
His face twisted.
"…You're evil."
Uta, either oblivious or pretending to be, continued seriously.
"White-bro, about what you said—about not spreading my ability field so wide, but compressing it around myself… I think I figured something out!"
White Ghost immediately sat up, interest awakened.
"Show me."
Uta nodded and closed her eyes.
Soon, energy rose around her—
and a familiar armor-like aura formed, similar to canon… except the spear was replaced by a knight's sword.
"I tried compressing it the past two days," she said. "And it turned into this."
White Ghost observed carefully.
"How long can you keep it?"
"An hour at most," Uta said. "Compression drains stamina like crazy."
White Ghost nodded.
"Can you compress further? Don't cover your whole body—cover the weapon."
Uta took a breath and tried.
She pulled the outward aura inward.
Slowly, the power condensed—
until the sword itself carried the energy.
White Ghost's brows lifted slightly.
"Good. Now attack me."
He stood and drew Second-Generation Kitetsu, coating it in Haki.
Because the Song-Song Fruit wasn't normal.
It was rule-based nonsense.
If he didn't reinforce his blade, there was a real chance his sword would get damaged by a "concept."
Uta swallowed.
"I'm coming, White-bro!"
She lunged.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
White Ghost blocked casually, analyzing the feel of her power through the clash.
"Tch… rule-type abilities really are disgusting," he muttered. "If I wasn't defending with Haki, one clean hit could drop a person straight into unconsciousness."
He parried again.
"But if you develop this further, even people with weak Haki won't be able to resist."
Then he sighed.
"Your sword fundamentals are terrible."
Uta's face flushed.
"Hey!"
"Come," White Ghost said. "Today I'll be your sparring partner."
"Fine!" Uta snapped, and attacked again.
White Ghost flicked her sword away.
"Too slow."
And with his index finger—
he tapped her forehead lightly.
Uta froze.
Her face turned even redder.
"Again," he said.
Uta swung harder, messier, faster—still without structure.
White Ghost dodged, parried, and tapped her forehead again.
"Control your temper," he said calmly. "I told you—Observation isn't about quantity. It's about precision."
Tap.
Uta's eye twitched.
That last forehead tap somehow made her anger focus.
And finally—
her Haki actually came out properly.
White Ghost caught her sword between two Haki-coated fingers.
"Better," he said. "Still weak."
He pushed the blade away.
"Rest. You're exhausted."
Uta nodded—and the moment she relaxed, her legs gave out.
She fell forward—
White Ghost caught her instantly with one arm.
And then…
It got dangerous.
Uta ended up pressed against his chest, her hair brushing his neck, her scent rising up like poison.
White Ghost felt the dragon instincts stirring.
Uta's face turned bright red.
She buried her head against him and stayed there, not moving.
After a while, she dared to peek up.
White Ghost looked down at her.
She was already tall—around 170 cm now.
The kind of body that was absolutely not "childish" anymore.
White Ghost's brain repeated one thing like a mantra:
Not yet. Age. Morals. Crime. Stop.
So he simply lay back into the chair with her still in his arms, holding her—doing nothing else.
Uta didn't struggle.
She liked him.
White Ghost patted her back gently.
"Your age isn't there yet," he said quietly. "Don't rush."
Uta nodded, cheeks burning.
"…Mm."
White Ghost stared at her lips for one second too long—
then abruptly released her.
Uta practically teleported away.
White Ghost lit a cigarette with shaking dignity.
"Damn it…"
He looked toward the sea where Urouge was casually knocking out a Sea King with his pillar.
Then he narrowed his eyes.
"Was that brat doing it on purpose…?"
White Ghost closed his eyes and forced his mind onto something else.
Something absolutely unromantic.
Something terrifying.
Something that killed lust.
He pictured a certain auntie with a legendary hairstyle.
It worked.
Mostly.
Then—
White Ghost's eyes snapped open.
He stared at the sea.
"…No way."
He stood.
"Do I actually have protagonist luck?"
His voice boomed across the ship.
"Kuro! Zan Gao! Senor Pink!"
He pointed toward the deck.
"Guard the ship for a while!"
Then—
without hesitation—
White Ghost grabbed his sword and jumped straight into the sea.
Everyone rushed to the railing.
"What's happening?!" someone shouted.
Kuro's Observation sharpened.
His expression shifted.
"There's something massive approaching from below."
He turned sharply.
"Enel! Wyper! Urouge—return now. A battle may start!"
The three didn't argue.
They used Geppo and Dials to return quickly.
Even before anything surfaced, the pressure from below was enormous.
Wyper swallowed.
"This thing… is too big."
Ain drew her twin blades and stepped in front of Styla and the others, her face serious.
Everyone stared at the sea.
The surface, previously calm, began to boil with rising bubbles.
Then—
A colossal shape rose.
A giant anglerfish the size of a small island floated up with rolled-back eyes.
Everyone on deck froze in disbelief.
"WHAT THE HELL…?" Zan Gao breathed. "That's insane."
Urouge stroked his beard thoughtfully.
"Are the Blue Sea's fish always this large…?"
And then—
White Ghost burst out of the water.
In one motion—
he swung his sword.
A single slash.
The anglerfish's lantern was severed cleanly.
He flung it back toward the ship like tossing a fruit.
"I'll catch it!" Zan Gao roared, transforming mid-leap—
He caught the massive lantern with both arms.
BOOM—!
His feet cracked the deck slightly from the weight.
"Holy— it's heavy!"
White Ghost didn't even pause.
He landed on the anglerfish's head and stabbed down once—finishing it completely.
Then he jumped—
straight into the anglerfish's mouth.
Everyone stared.
"…Captain?" Kuro muttered.
Zan Gao blinked.
"Is he… going inside?"
Franky leaned over the railing, eyes shining.
"THIS IS SUPER!!"
White Ghost's voice echoed faintly from inside the beast.
"Keep watch. I'm grabbing something."
The crew exchanged looks.
Because only White Ghost would look at an island-sized Sea King and think:
Loot time.
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